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My scary and emotional weekend

Dear all,

I wanted to post about what I have experienced this weekend. I think this friendly and supportive forum is a great place for me to do this and I also want to share what I have been through in the hope that it will be of some use to other mums. So here goes.....

Two weeks ago I found out out that I was pregnant again. Myself and my husband were so delighted as we have been trying for another baby for some months now. This Saturday (when I was almost 7 weeks pregnant) I felt something wet in my knickers. I checked and to my absolute horror I was bleeding bright red blood. I was immediately very distressed as I have had a miscarriage before and I feared the worse. I felt desperate, so sad and angry that this was happening to me again.

Shortly after this I started getting stomach cramps. Some were quite bad and they felt just like with my previous miscarriage. I felt devastated. I phoned the doctor and he wanted me to be seen as an emergency patient. When I got to the hospital I started feeling very ill indeed and collapsed on the floor, dizzy and feeling sick. The doctor who saw me said she was worried I was having an ectopic pregnancy. She admitted me overnight. This was so difficult as I normally breastfeed my little boy to sleep (he's almost 15 months old) but he had to go home with my husband without me.

Overnight I continued to feel dizzy with a high temperature and I felt sad and lonely. Early yesterday morning my husband was allowed to come back in and we went for an early pregnancy scan. We feared the worse.

I still can't quite believe the result. I am delighted and so pleased to say that the sonographer found a baby with a heartbeat. The best news. Ever! What's more the bleeding and pain stopped and the consultant has told me that she's not expecting me to have any more problems with this pregnancy. Actually, after the weekend I've had I still can't believe the ending!

So, it's still early days but things are looking well. I have been told I need to take things easy. I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers that the rest of my pregnancy goes smoothly. I know further bleeding is possible but I really hope I don't get any more as it was a horrible experience.

Oh my goodness LJ! First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy and I amd so happy to hear that you and your little one are all right but what a very scary thing to happen! Did they have an idea or explaination for what was happening to you?

I had bright red bleeding when I was about 13 weeks pregnant with by boys (no pain or anything like you had though, bless your heart!) and my doctors thought I might be miscarrying one or both of them. Thankfully, I wasn't and while they never determined exactly what caused it I was told that sometimes cysts (it may not exactly be a cyst but something like that) can develop and when they burst there can be bright red blood. I also had placenta previa early on and when they did the unltra sound to see how the babies were doing it had resolved itself, so I often wonder if that caused it. It's hard to tell I suppose.

Again, I am so happy that you and your little bean are doing well and I hope and pray that all goes well for the rest of your pregnancy! Please be sure you keep us updated on how you are doing

Hi LJ, I will be thinking of you and sending you lots of positive energy I too had early bleeding when I was pregnant with my first child after previously miscarrying and like you, I also thought it was another pregnancy loss... Look after yourself and please keep us posted.

Are you drinking any freshly juiced fruits and/or vegetables? Maybe a green drink or a green smoothy would taste good, help keep your blood sugar levels stable (to avoid dizziness), and help to support the pregnancy as well.

I've been drinking a carrot/apple/greens drink each day for the past week or so and I love the way I feel. About 5 carrots, 1 apple, and 6 handfuls of deep greens (not kale - I could only do 1/2 handful of kale, but the other deep leafy organic salad greens).

Let us know if there's anything we can do, and do get some rest (need suggestions on how to get rest, just ask and we'll give some ideas).

That is a frightening experience indeed. I am so happy to hear that everything turned out OK. How are you now? Like some of the pp's, I am wondering if you ever received a diagnosis for the fever and bleeding? These stories usually end so sadly, it is great to hear everything is good. Congratulations on your blessing!

Well, they never found a cause for the bleeding. The consultant said that it's not unusual during early pregnancy. But I certainly hope it doesn't happen again. They showed me on the ultrasound where the bleeding had occurred and it was quite contained. As for the fever, again they couldn't find a cause. I am not unwell so it seems this is quite unusual. The doctors think my dizziness may have been due to my blood sugar levels - thank you Kate I will try those veg/ fruit shakes.

I'm feeling a lot better since the weekend with no more stomach cramps, although I have started suffering from morning sickness now.

Something else which the doctor mentioned that I'd like some more opinions on is that she wanted me to stop breastfeeding my toddler (he is 15 months old). She said she would not normally advise this but because of the bleeding and me becoming unwell she thinks the breastfeeding is making me too tired to cope well with the new pregnancy. I know of the research that shows breastfeeding does not harm a pregnancy directly but what the doctor was saying is that it is too draining for my body.

I'm really in two minds about this. Me and my toddler love breastfeeding: the bond and the benefits are simply fantastic. However, I obviously don't want to cause any additional health concerns in my new pregnancy, particularly given the bleeding and pain I experienced on Saturday. I have been very tired in the last week but then I was in the first trimester last time. I am also concerned that weaning my toddler earlier than we planned to will actually cause me to be more tired as we adapt to this.

So glad to hear that you are doing better! That's too bad about having to stop breast feeding but I guess it could make sense. It's demading on your body and since you are pregnant you'd kind of be working double duty. Whatever you decide to do about breastfeeding, I wish you the best and ray for a very healthy pregnancy!!!

Are you taking any supplements to help support your body so that you can give to your toddler and to your new baby (and not take away from you)?

What is your activity level like? Are you under a lot of stress each day or do you find yourself smiling, laughing, singing, and feeling like "life is good" in general?

I'm just thinking that if you can support yourself, nutritionally and physically, maybe you could continue to breastfeed your toddler.

For me, I kind of wanted to be done breastfeeding when morning sickness hit because I didn't want to be awakened in the middle of the night, because then I'd feel the nausea again.

But it's not easy to wean, especially if bub is not ready. Maybe a very slow wean would work. Does bub breastfeed at night? If so, this might be the hardest to give up, especially if he's in the family bed.

Hi Laura-Jane - Congratulations on your pregnancy and I am sorry to hear you've had a rough time of it. Regarding breastfeeding in pregnancy it's great you are considering your options. FYI - There is no research evidence that breastfeeding during pregnancy increases fatigue levels. Certainly you need to make sure that you are eating nutritious food and taking a good quality vitamin supplement. Maybe your fatigue and dizziness were due to some sort of virus that coincided with your bleeding (it's just a thought).

At the moment my little lad is breastfeeding in the day (maybe around 3-4 times) and also around 2-3 times per night. I am taking some Calcium and Vitamin D supplements but no others yet (and Folic acid of course).

I have been thinking that it is his waking in the night which is making me tired. Generally during the day I am happy and well but it can be a bit much in the middle of the night. So this week we have tried to get him to sleep in his cot rather than co-sleep. This does make me feel a bit sad as we were enjoying our co-sleeping bond but I guess I need to think of the one on the way now too. So far my husband and been trying to settle him when he wakes up but this doesn't always work plus I don't want him to be upset - so I am still feeding him in the night.

I am going to gather as much information and advice on this as I want to do what is best for my family. I was talking to a friend of mine who cut down the breastfeeding of her older toddlers to just one night feed when her latest baby arrived and I really liked this idea as it keeps the bond but she did not find it tiring at all. That said, I don't know if that will be enough breastfeeding for my toddler as he does love it and takes real comfort from feeding!

Can you handle a prenatal vitamin now (with the morning sickness)? If so, you may want to add that in, along with some flax oil and possibly some chlorophyll. Chlorophyll will help relieve stress on the liver and give you extra nutritional support during your pregnancy (it's also a natural source of iron, and my midwife recommended it for me late in my pregnancy when I became anemic).

The morning sickness comes and goes - actually it is worse in the night! I'm going to call into the health food shop this afternoon and pick up the flax oil and chlorophyll as they sound like they could help me. I can sometimes take a prenatal vitamin depending on my sickness levels.

The chlorophyll works in conjunction with the flax oil (helps with absorption) so it's great that you'll pick those two up.

You could do something like cod liver oil instead of flax, but I'm a bit cautious about using a fish oil during pregnancy due to mercury levels. I know a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner who does not recommend fish oils during preconception or pregnancy for that reason.